Epitaph One
"Epitaph One" is the thirteenth episode of Dollhouse. It was written by Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon, with a story by Joss Whedon. It was directed by Joss Whedon. Originally not part of Fox's Season One order, "Epitaph One" was not expected to be aired on Fox. It will be released on the Dollhouse Season One DVD set and is expected to be screened at San Diego Comic Con 2009. However, since Fox decided to renew Dollhouse in May 2009, rumors have surfaced that they also plan to air "Epitaph One". The episode made its world premiere in Singapore via SingTel mio TV's on-demand Season Pass service on June 17, 2009. Production Since "Epitaph One" wasn't part of Fox's 13-episode deal with 20th Century Fox Television, it was not expected to air on Fox, since Fox didn't pay for the production of the episode. Tim Minear said that the producers "always knew it would be for the DVD for sure" and that it was written as "a standalone kind of coda episode", not as a season finale. Joss Whedon said about the episode: "The decision had to do with the studio saying, 'We need another episode for our package, and we can't afford one. Can you do a clip show? Can we show the unaired pilot?' I'm like, 'No, you can't. It wouldn't make any sense. Besides, we cannibalized it for parts. Most of it's in other episodes.' And they were like, 'Well, we really have to have 13 for foreign.' And I said, 'I'll tell you what. I'll shoot a post-apocalyptic thriller that's all on our sets in six days with a cast of four other people, then we'll pepper it with different bits from our regular cast, and we can do it all during the schedule. It'll cost you half. I can do this.' And I was so in love with the idea that I just came up with off the top of my head, and that's what it turned into. It's one of the best episodes we've ever made." Previews The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan said that the episode will feature an original song written by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, sung by Tancharoen. The entire regular cast will appear in the episode, though Eliza Dushku and Tahmoh Penikett appear only briefly, and "You'll see Topher as you've never seen him before." It does not feature Reed Diamond or Alan Tudyk. The episode is set in 2019, after an apocalypse. Reception Cast & Crew Rocco Passionino, Dollhouse's visual effects supervisor, said about the episode: "The last episode is very interesting. The intention of that episode is bizarre and it's done for half the price of what a normal show is done. They contained their resources and the environments to not make it as expansive as a normal show. For us, I think the concept is phenomenal. I would have hoped that they could have brought the concept in earlier but it opens up everything and allows us to run away with the fact that technology has done more than they intended it to." Felicia Day, a guest star on the episode, called her role "such a great part" and the episode is "the best script I've ever read", and Tim Minear said Fox should air the episode "because it's awesome". Olivia Williams said about "Epitaph One": "When the DVD comes out, the thing to do is watch episode 13. When we had the scripts in, we were all sat around holding our heads, but that's what makes people addicted to sci-fi - it hurts your head trying to figure out all the implications. It's very, very clever - and crazy. Only a truly sick mind like Joss's could come up with this! It could either be the beginning of something fabulous, or the episode to end all episodes..." Cast Main Cast *Eliza Dushku as Echo *Harry Lennix as Boyd Langton *Tahmoh Penikett as Paul Ballard *Fran Kranz as Topher Brink *Enver Gjokaj as Victor *Dichen Lachman as Sierra *and Olivia Williams as Adelle DeWitt Recurring Roles *Amy Acker as Dr. Claire Saunders *Reed Diamond as Laurence Dominic *Alan Tudyk as Alpha Guest Stars *Felicia Day as Mag *Chris William Martin as Griff *Janina Gavankar as Lynn *Adair Tishler as Iris *Warren Sweeney as Mr. Miller *Zack Ward as Zone *Jordan Tartakow as Ethan Notes & References Category:Episodes Category:Episodes written by Joss Whedon Category:Episodes directed by Joss Whedon